Seeds breeze through

Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, bidding to preserve her so-far perfect season, breezed into the third round of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters Series tournament on Friday.
Sharapova, the fourth seed, shrugged off the swirling winds on stadium court, dismissing French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 6-0 in just 58 minutes.
Defending women's champion Daniela Hantuchova was also untroubled by the blustery conditions, launching her defense with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over US wildcard Angela Haynes.
Second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, runner-up to Hantuchova here last year, headlined the night session and made quick work of compatriot Elena Makarova, posting a 6-1, 6-1 win in 53 minutes.
All of the 32 men's and women's seeds in the 5.7 million-dollar tournament have first-round byes.
That meant men's top seeds, led by number one Roger Federer, second seeded defending champion Rafael Nadal and third-seeded Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic, remained on the sidelines on Friday as the men's first round concluded.
The women's marquee players swung into action for the first time and despite the difficult conditions there were no big surprises.
Sharapova, 20 and ranked fifth in the world, went into her tournament opener boasting a perfect 14-0 record in 2008, including her championship run in the Australian Open, a victory in Doha in February and two Fed Cup match wins.
"Obviously, you never know what kind of tennis you're going to produce in these kind of conditions," she said. "I think against an opponent that didn't give me much rhythm, I think I handled it pretty well."
Despite her impressive record in 2008, Sharapova said she would be taking nothing for granted as the tournament progressed.
"When I begin a tournament, it's like I'm starting from scratch," she said. "At the end of the day, numbers are all very relative.
"I just have to focus on my next match and next round," added Sharapova, who next faces Greece's Eleni Daniilidou, a 1-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 winner over Czech Klara Zakopalova.
Hantuchova, ranked eighth in the world and seeded fifth, was delighted to be back in Indian Wells, where she has claimed two of her three career titles.
She was a teenager in 2002 when she upset Martina Hingis in the final to make her first WTA Tour title a prestigious tier one crown.
She didn't win another until her triumph here last year, which was followed by a victory at Linz later in 2007.
"It was an incredible feeling to be back on center court," Hantuchova said. "I definitely feel like it's my home out there. It was really windy, but I'm very glad how I handled the conditions."
Eighth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina reached the third round with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 victory over American Jill Craybas, while number nine Shahar Peer of Israel advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.
Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo of France, seeded 17th, opened her campaign with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Romanian Edina Gallovits.
Unseeded Chinese Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie both advanced with victories over seeded players. Peng defeated 23rd-seeded Karin Knapp of Italy 6-1, 6-3, while Zheng defeated 30th-seeded Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-4.
Top seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, her third-seeded compatriot Jelena Jankovic, sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France and number seven Nicole Vaidisova of Czech Republic headline women's action on Saturday.
Nadal, Djokovic, ninth-seeded American James Blake and Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, the 17th seed, were slated for second-round play.